A research team led by engineers found that virtual conferences are more inclusive than in-person events, and also carry a smaller environmental footprint.

A research team led by engineers from The University of Texas at Austin analyzed several science conferences that first went virtual during the early months of the pandemic. In a new paper, published today in Nature Sustainability, the researchers examined the environmental, social and economic costs of virtual conferences compared with in-person events and analyzed how the shift online altered participation by women, early-career researchers and scientists from underrepresented institutions and countries.

The study found that virtual events lower costs and reduce time and travel commitments that have previously held some conferences back from attracting diverse groups of attendees. Also, the environmental costs of hundreds or thousands of people flying from around the world to attend a conference are eliminated.

«When we went virtual, it brought a lot more voices to the table that just weren’t able to be there for in-person events because of cost, time and other reasons,» said Kasey Faust, an assistant professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering.

The cost of in-person attendance for scientists from Africa to several recent conferences was on average between 80% and 250% of their country’s annual per person gross domestic product, compared with approximately 3% of per capita gross domestic product for U.S. participants.

In addition to cost, in-person events also require tremendous investments in time. These events require travel, often last multiple days and take up all of attendees’ time while they are there.

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